


Shrunk

by Pink_Aesthetic



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Feelings of Helplessness, I Don't Even Know, Kidnapping, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Shrinking, Witchcraft, panicking Virgil, small spaces, tinies, tinies being bought and sold
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-05-19 21:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14881523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_Aesthetic/pseuds/Pink_Aesthetic
Summary: Roman and Virgil had been traveling to a few towns over and had taken camp in the middle of a forest. A full day ago Roman had left to scout ahead and hasn't returned. Virgil decides to leave camp to see if he can find his reckless boyfriend and prays to god he didn’t hurt himself.





	1. Little cottage in the woods

The talisman glowed faintly as it grew nearer to its counterpart. Virgil had been flowing the arrowhead’s directions all day in his search of Roman. His boyfriend had disappeared from their camp yesterday with a note saying he was going to scout out the forest ahead for any danger. Seems he had run into some.

Virgil knew that Roman was still alive, his talisman was still sending out a signal for Virgil's own, but it was still nerve racking for Roman to be gone. 

The arrow pointed to the door of a small cabin that looked deserted. Though as Virgil stepped up the porch stairs and went to grab the door handle he felt the overwhelming aura of magic. The cottage was enchanted. 

A witch was the most likely colporate of this and Virgil knew better than to stay for long. Witches never liked intruders. But the arrowhead was pointing insistently at the door and Virgil had a feeling Roman had somehow managed to get himself trapped inside. So, with a deep breath, Virgil turned the knob and stepped in.

Once in it was obvious that the outside appearance was all an illusion. Candles burned along the windows, different pickled and dried items were jared along the walls, and not a speck of dirt or dust was anywhere to be seen. Virgil had an odd thought of taking off his shoes, but he quickly shook it away. He had to focus on getting Roman. 

The talisman pointed towards a row of empty jars and Virgil was terrified for a second that the talisman was broken before he realized that one of the jars was definitely not empty.

Roman was trapped in one, four inches tall and banging on the glass wall.

“Roman, holy shit,” Virgil quickly pocketed his talisman and ran to grab the jar. He reached in and let Roman climb onto his hand, “Roman, what did you do?”

“It’s not my fault!” His boyfriend whined, “I had no idea that this cottage was the home of a witch, and she refused to listen to an apology!”

“We have to change you back.” Virgil twisted to the large table in the middle of the room, where ingredients for spells were lined and a spellbook laid open.

“There’s no time!” Roman hissed, clasping tightly onto Virgil's thumb so he wouldn't fall off, “The witch will be back any moment!”

“Well look what we have here,” A voice purred from the open doorway. Virgil flinched back and began searching for a second exit, but the witch was blocking the only one. “Two intruders in two days, I guess I need to put up stronger defenses”

“Ma’am, we’re sorry about coming in uninvited,” Virgil said, keeping his voice calm, “And we’d be glad to take out leave and be gone.”

“Now, y’see young man,” she drawled stepping closer. The door slammed shut and locked behind her and Virgil's anxiety spiked, he took a step back in the small space only to realize he had pinned himself against the shelf, “I can't quite do that. If I want to build up a reputation of someone to not be trifled with, I can't let intruders just come and go as they please, now can I?”

“We’re sorry,” Virgil tried again, gulping down the lump in his throat.

“Oh. You should be,” the witch taunted. She had stalked her way up to him and was much too close , but he had nowhere to go. He tried to step away to the side but she grabbed his chin and made him face her. “Parvus,” she muttered and Virgil immediately began to feel the effect. He was shrinking quicker and quicker until he was the same height as Roman. Before either of them could move the witch plucked them both from the floor and dropped them in a jar.

“Will anyone else be finding their way to my cottage?” She asked, holding the jar at eye level.

Virgil shook his head, it had just been the two of them traveling. Roman gave her the middle finger. The witch laughed and placed them on the shelf and with a flourish of her wrist made a scarf appear in her hand and she dropped it over them. She tied a string around the top, holding the cloth in place.

Now in the dark, with almost no space to move, Virgil began to panic. His breath coming out in short heavy bursts and he wrapped his arms around himself, “Roman- Roman, wha-what do you- what do you thi-”

Roman shushed him and pulled him into a hug, and then slowly lowering them to the floor of the jar. “Hey, it's okay. We’re here together. I'm right here, okay? Don't go worrying yet. We're together, neither of us is hurt. Some nasty ol’ witch isn't going to get us down.”

Virgil barely heard what Roman was saying however, “Roman, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, if I had been quicker. If I had left to find you earlier-”

Roman cut him off, “You would have been caught quicker. Darling, it's not your fault. If anything it’s my own fault, I shouldn’t have been poking around in the first place. Though the witch is the most to blame, she was adamant in ignoring my apologies, and now she’s brought you into this. If we’re going to assign blame I suggest we assign blame to the witch herself.”

Virgil didn’t argue, but his panic breathing didn’t seize. Roman began to run his fingers through Virgil’s hair, humming a tune. It took several minutes before his breathing evened out and Roman thought for a moment his boyfriend had fallen asleep until he spoke up, “What do you think she’s going to do with us?”

“I do not know,” Roman answered.

“Roman, this is stupid, we should be in town right now,” Virgil huffed.

“I agree, this predicament is quite ridiculous. You’d think a witch would be more understanding to some passing travelers,” Roman replied, “Or you know, at the very least, put some ‘No Trespassing’ signs up.”

Virgil snickered. He snuggled closer into Roman’s chest, “Yeah a ‘No Trespassing’ sign would have helped. Or like a sign on the door that says ‘A Witch Lives Here.’ Guarantee no one would walk in then.”

“Or perhaps, ‘I'm Evil. Go Away,’” Roman added.

“‘I Know Magic And I Will Use It.’”

“‘All Who Enter Will Be Put In A Jar.’” They both laughed at that one.

“This is stupid,” Virgil said again, though a small smile was present on his face.

“I know,” Roman replied, running his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. They both fell asleep to the sound of the witch working only a few feet away.


	2. The market place is a dangerous place

The two woke up when the jar was unceremoniously plucked off the shelf. There was touseling and Roman cursed as his head banged against the jar. Neither could see what was going on as the jar was still fully covered by the scarf. There were several moments of just random movements, they heard the front door open and close and after a second the randomness evened out to the to gait of footsteps. It took the two a few minutes to put the puzzle pieces together, the witch had most likely placed them into a bag and they were now traveling somewhere. The squeak of a wheel in front had them believe the witch was also pushing a wheelbarrow. 

“Where is she taking us?” Virgil asked, though he knew Roman wouldn’t have the answer. Roman didn’t reply, he just did his best to steady the both as the jar continued to swing heavily. A few things jingled and scratched around them within the bag, and a loud clank was heard from the wheelbarrow as it probably hit a rock. 

Some time later voices and the sound of multiple footsteps were heard, getting louder but nothing directed towards the witch. The couple listened to the new sounds in confused silence until Roman looked down at Virgil with a raised eyebrow, “Are we in town?”

“Sounds like it,” Virgil replied, “But why would we-” He cut his statement short as they could feel their surroundings move and the bag was suddenly dropped onto the ground, causing both of them to slam into the wall of the jar.

“That monster!” Roman screeched, quickly adjusting himself so that he wasn’t squishing Virgil. Virgil nodded in agreement, moving so he could lay his head in the crook of his boyfriend’s neck. Roman huffed, but again began to run his hands through Virgil’s hair. 

There was a few clinks of what the two believed was the witch moving jars from the wheelbarrow, but they couldn’t be sure of anything. Footsteps stepped forward and the witch’s voice spoke up for the first time in awhile, “Well if it isn’t my favorite customer!”

The couple stiffened, Virgil’s breathing picked up, “Roman, you don't think-”

“Well hello, Dragae,” a cool voice answered, “And what have you brought today?”

“We’re in the market.” A lump formed in Roman’s throat. The witch could have very well left them at the cottage, but she choose to bring them along. The couple did not want to think of what that meant.

“Actually, I have something I think you’ll be very interested in,” The witch, Dragae, said. She grabbed the jar off the ground.

“I thought loganberries were still out of season?” The stranger asked, curiosity in his voice.

“Who said anything about jam, Logic. I’ve heard you had started a little collection of magical creatures and thought you might want to take a look at these two.” The scarf lifted on one side of the jar and the two were assaulted with sunlight. Virgil ducked his head into Roman’s shoulder to block out the light. Roman squinted, trying to get his eyes to adjust. It took a moment but he finally got a look at the outside. Most of his view was obscured by the man standing right in front of them. His brown hair was pushed back out of his face, black rimmed spectacles sat on his nose, the lightest freckles bridged from cheek to cheek, and his eyes were a dark blue and that looked devoid of any emotion. Roman did not like how close a view he had of the man’s face, and he did not like how the man was looking at him and Virgil. So, he flipped the bird at him.

The man raised his eyebrow and turned his attention back to Dragae, “I’m fairly certain that those two are not magical creatures.”

“Fine, you caught me,” Dragae said, placing the jar on a surface in front of her. The scarf was still up and Roman could make out a few jam jars to the left and right of him. Seems the witch came to town to sell fruit spreads… and them. 

Dragae continued, “Caught these two trespassing, thought I'd try out a new spell.”

“You could get in a lot of trouble for something like this, Dragae. Deceit had his entire cottage ransacked by the guard for giving a human a faulty potion, what do you think will happen if you're caught with two humans in a jar?”

“It’s the human’s fault for trusting a witch with the witch name Deceit, don't you think?” Dragae hissed. “Why don’t you help me out, Logic, and take them off my hands?”

“And what do you assume I do with them?” Logic asked.

“Oh I don't know, keep them as pets, dissect them, throw them in a lake. Do what you want, I just want them gone before human buyers start appearing.”

“I see, and what's the price for a jar I am going to toss into a lake?”

“Sixty pieces.”

“I’m pretty sure jars only cost you five pieces.”

“Thirty pieces, then.”

“I could buy three jars of jam with thirty pieces, I think I’d prefer that.”

“Fine, fifteen pieces and a jar of strawberry jam.”

“That’s more like it.”

Roman watched Logic pull a money pouch out of his satchel and count out fifteen gold coins and placing them in front of the jar. He then replaced his pouch into the bag, along with a full jar of jam, and lastly the scarf was lowered again and the jar was moved off the counter and into the man’s bag.

“We’re going to die,” Virgil whimpered. Their surroundings began to sway with Logic’s movements.

“We are not going to die,” Roman said with as much confidence he could muster, “We’ll find a way to escape and then-”

“And then what?” Virgil cut him off, “We’re four inches tall, Roman, what are we going to do. Even if we manage to get away from this ‘Logic’ guy, where would we go? Who's to say someone worse won’t pick us up next?”

“We can’t think like that,” Roman answered, “We have to believe it’ll work out.”

“Roman, I love you so much. I love your unwavering optimism, and your knight-like chivalry, and your bravery in the face of any danger, but this.. this doesn't have a silver lining. This isn't some bandit you can fight or a puzzle you can solve. This is a dead end.”

“You can never just give a compliment,” Roman mused with a soft smile, though it lacked any humor.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil mumbled.

“You don’t have to be, darling. You're scared, so am I. I love you so very much as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, Logan, what are you planning there?


	3. Logan is kind of a dick... kinda?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I changed the Dragon Witch's name to something less cliche. Oh and Logan doesn't explain anything, we just go over everything that has already happen.

It wasn’t long at all before they arrived at a small home and were removed from the bag. Logic removed the string and scarf off the jar and dumped the two humans onto his desk fairly unceremoniously. 

“Ow,” Virgil moaned, lightly touching the spot on his head where he had landed, hoping to assess the damage. There would probably be small bump later but he doubted anything too bad. Roman was in similar condition, evident as the moment he regained his bearings he closed the small distance between them that had formed during their tumble out the jar.

Logic didn’t seem fazed as the two rejoined and instead grabbed a quill and small notebook. He lifted the notebook over the desk and Virgil had a horrible thought that he would just drop the book and squish them. Instead Logic let go of the book a few inches away from them, the item thumping loudly. “I have a few questions for you,” Logic finally said to them, opening the book to a blank page and writing a few notes.

“You’re not going to kill us?” Virgil couldn’t help but ask, eyeing the book wearily.

“That’d be a waste of purchase, don’t you think?” Logic answered, writing another note before looking up. “First, any injuries I should know about? I’d rather not having you dying on me because of a small infected scrape or something similar.”

“Besides the bumps from being tossed around a jar, we’re fine,” Roman snapped. Virgil pinched his arm, quietly telling him to shut up. 

Logic merely rolled his eyes and continued, “How long has our dear Dragon Witch had you two in her custody?”

“Why do you care?” Roman sneered. 

Virgil lightly punched his arm and answered the question, “She shrunk Roman two days ago, I think, and me yesterday.”

“You think?” Logic asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Roman left our camp two days ago, and when he hadn’t returned after a day I went to go find him. I found him in the- the Dragon Witch’s cabin in a jar. Before I could grab him and leave she found and shrunk me as well,” Virgil explained further. 

“And, why, Roman, did Valene shrink you?” Logic pointed the tip of the quill in Roman’s direction.

Roman huffed, “It was hardly my own fault, truly, how was I supposed to know the the utterly abandoned looking home was that of a witch. If I had known I would have never entered in the first place.”

“Trespassing. Valene said the same,” Logic muttered, “You two are lucky to be alive, she rarely takes kindly to those that enter her home. And.. what was your name?” Logic pointed to Virgil.

“Virgil,” he squeaked out, mind shooting to back to all the things the Dragon Witch could have done.

“Virgil,” Logic continued, not noticing the human’s distress, “How did you find Roman? The woods are quite vast. Even if he was less than a few hours journey from your camp, you had no way of knowing that information or that he had stepped within Valene’s cottage.”

“I- me and Roman have connected talismans,” Virgil stumbled on his words.

“Oh?” Logic asked, “I was under the impression that talismans were saved for lovers. Are you two-?”

Roman blinked up at him, “Was it not obvious?” He gestured to the arm he had securely wrapped around his boyfriend. 

“I try not to assume,” he supplied, though a small blush dusted his cheeks, “My good friend Morality tends to be quite affectionate.” There was a pause, “Well anyway, I assume you two have not eaten in that time, I do not wish to starve you. Would you two like something before-”   
  
“Logan!” A voice cut in, bubbly, bright, and excited, from the other room, “Are you home? I got something super I wanna show you!”   


“Shit,” Logan hissed, scrambling to pick up the jar and sweeping Roman and Virgil inside, “Stay quiet or there will be consequences.” He got up and placed the jar in a drawer, closing it with thud. Roman hissed at the small crack of light before pulling Virgil into his lap and running his fingers through his hair to keep him calm.

“Logan?” The voice chirped again.

“In the back, Morality!” Logan called finally. 

“Logan! I told you to call me Patton!” he exclaimed.

Roman hummed a short tune and kissed the top of Virgil’s head. “Think we should try to gain this Patton’s attention? Logic obviously doesn’t want him finding us,” Roman whispered.

Virgil shook his head, nuzzling further into Roman’s chest. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t,” he quoted, “Patton could be worse, or he could not care- and then Logic would be mad.” Roman didn’t like that answer but he kept quiet, not wanting to upset him more, and continued to pet Virgil. Virgil slowly drifted off and Roman huffed amusedly, kissing his head and listening to the conversation outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a filler chapter to get me back in the swing of things. I don't know where this story is going but here we are.


End file.
